What does VRE in urine mean?

What does VRE in urine mean?

VRE stands for vancomycin-resistant enterococcus. It’s an infection with bacteria that are resistant to the antibiotic called vancomycin. Enterococcus is a type of bacteria that normally lives in the intestines and the female genital tract. It usually doesn’t make us sick.

Can you get VRE in urine?

VRE is typically not spread through the air like a cold or the flu and it cannot be spread through casual contact such as hugging. It is spread by direct contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids, such as blood, phlegm, urine, or stool, or by touching surfaces that have been contaminated by the bacteria.

How long is VRE colonization?

In a long-term care facility, VRE colonization has been shown to persist for up to 6 months with a median duration of colonization of 67 days. Other studies have demonstrated persistent colonization for up to 709 days, 12 months, and even up to 3 years.

What antibiotics are used to treat VRE?

Doxycycline, chloramphenicol, and rifampin in various combinations have been used to treat VRE infections, but the newer antibiotic choices are also now available.

How does VRE cause disease in a colonized patient?

Colonization usually occurs in the bowel. If the number of VRE bacteria increases, they can invade the bloodstream or spread locally to cause an abdominal abscess or urinary tract infection. Once in the bloodstream, VRE can cause meningitis, pneumonia, or infection of a heart valve (endocarditis).

Is colonized VRE contagious?

How is it spread? VRE can spread from one person to another through contact with contaminated surfaces or equipment or through person to person spread, often via contaminated hands. It is not spread through the air by coughing or sneezing.

What kind of treatment does VRE colonization require?

What is the treatment for VRE? Treatment is usually not needed for people who are colonized with VRE (carry VRE but do not have any symptoms of infection). Most VRE infections can be treated with antibiotics other than vancomycin. Laboratory testing can help healthcare providers determine which antibiotics will work.

Can VRE cause death?

Those bacteria that used to succumb to vancomycin have evolved to be able to tolerate it. Included is one form of enterococcal infection, now widely known as VRE. While it is not always lethal, it can cause serious illness or death, particularly in older, sicker people with weakened immune systems.

Is VRE curable?

VRE infections can be cured in most patients, and the outcome is often more dependent on the underlying disease than on the infecting organism. The duration of treatment depends on the site of infection. For example, heart-valve infections may require six weeks of antibiotic therapy.

What does colonized VRE mean?

People can carry enterococci or VRE in their bodies without developing any symptoms. This is called being “colonized”. A person might be colonized for a long time before getting sick or might never get sick.

What is the difference between colonized and infected VRE patients?

Colonized patients carry VRE but do not have clinical signs or symptoms of infection. This distinction is important in VRE screening. Patients are usually colonized in the gastrointestinal tract and occasionally in the urinary tract. VRE colony counts are similar in the stool of colonized or infected patients.

Is there any clinical significance of VRE in the urine?

However, evidence of VRE in the urine in the absence of other findings (urgency, fever, flank pain, systemic symptoms) may have limited clinical importance, representing only asymptomatic bacteriuria and not requiring antimicrobial treatment. 25 Patients with VRE have a high prevalence of skin colonization,…

What are vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE)?

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are becoming a major concern in medical practice. Their increased prevalence and their ability to transfer vancomycin resistance to other bacteria (including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) have made them a subject of close scrutiny and intense investigation.

What happens if you get VRE in your body?

VRE. VRE can live in the human intestines and female genital tract without causing disease (often called colonization). However, sometimes it can cause infections of the urinary tract, the bloodstream, or of wounds associated with catheters or surgical procedures.